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It’s the end of the year and everyone is “recapping” 2008…why do I always like to read about who died this past year. I also like walking through graveyards; maybe I should bring this all up in my next therapy session.Of course some deaths are sadder then others, I remember when Jim Henson died I thought to myself “why does he have to die and Charles Manson still gets to live”. I guess when people do so much good for the world they should get to stay around longer but who am I to question the big “plan”.

I think one of the saddest deaths this year was Heath Ledger only because of his age of 28. Although his death was never stated as a suicide, just a drug overdose, it makes the statement “money can’t buy happiness” more true. Michael Jackson is living proof of that line.

Then, while reading my list of deaths I’m always saying “oh yeah, I forgot that person died”. Paul Newman just died this past September and I had already forgotten. That was a huge death, he was a classic movie star but he lived a good long life dying at 83. I always admired him for his long marriage to Joanne Woodward. Another big one was Roy Scheider at 75, he starred in one of my all time favorite movies…Jaws. You’re gonna need a bigger boat! Then there was Charlton Heston at 84, I think he played every biblical character but was most famous for Moses…I will break my own law and utter his name…so let it be written, so let it be done. (Only true The Ten Commandments fans will understand that line.) Another favorite of mine was George Carlin at 71. His saliva time was up, let me explain…his joke – Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time.

I have to believe all these people are at peace now whether they were happy on this earth or not. One of my favorite quotes is from an Annie Lennox song “dying is easy it’s living that scares me to death”.

I was just talking to Ryan about your post. The good ones are always taken at their peak and I think that makes them even more memorable. Makes sense that you remember Ledger more than Newman because Newman has been under the radar for the past few years. Ledger was just starting to gain some stardom and to do some really good things. Makes you wonder, do people that do the most good run out of good (i.e. Princess Di, Freddy Mercury)? Maybe that is big “plan”.